1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system cooling, and more particularly to a system and method for managing cooling airflow for a multiprocessor information handling system.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling system performance has improved over time with improvements in the speed and performance of the many processing components typically used to build information handling systems. Perhaps the most prominent improvements center about the exponential growth of the processing power of central processing units (CPUs), which are typically considered the “brain” of an information handling system. CPU processing power increases as more transistors and other features are squeezed into a given area. CPU processing power also increase with increased rates at which computations are performed. In addition to these improvements to CPU processing power, other processing components have contributed to more powerful information handling systems. For instance, double data rate (DDR) random access memory (RAM) stores and accesses greater amounts of information with less footprint and reduced times; graphics cards perform intense computations to provide more crisp and timely image presentations; and hard disk drives rotate fixed storage media at greater rates for more rapid storage response.
One disadvantage to the improvements in information handling system processing components is that greater amounts of heat are typically generated as a byproduct of the operation of these more powerful components. Thermal cooling presents a substantial design problem that varies based on a number of factors, such as the type of components in a system, the size of the system chassis and the number and power of cooling fans included in the system. Cost and acoustic constraints typically drive the arrangement of processing components within the chassis relative to the cooling fan. Often, the CPU is placed proximate the cooling fan since the CPU typically generates more heat than other components. Other components that generate considerable heat, such as RAM, are sometimes aligned to receive cooling airflow after the CPU. Generally, each component is coupled to the system motherboard and then covered by a heat sink that helps to draw heat away from the component. The heat sink typically extends into the cooling airflow and is formed with ridges that expose increased surface area to the cooling airflow. If an information handling system is built without a component, such as with a single CPU in a motherboard that has two CPU sockets, a simulated heat sink is sometimes inserted at the missing component's position so that the airflow through the system chassis remains as designed. Although simulated heat sinks retain the designed cooling airflow, the effectiveness of the cooling airflow is somewhat diminished.